“THEY looked so beautiful, I got quite emotional,” said Shirley Pruissen last week after she had watched a dignified parade of hundreds of women carrying banners down Bedford’s main street.
The parade was led by a brass band from Fort Beaufort.
Pruissen is the manager of Border Veterinary Supplies on Donkin Street, so she had a grandstand view of the parade.
Our main picture was taken from the vantage point of the Duke of Bedford Inn balcony.
Many other Bedford citizens were drawn to Donkin Street by the sound of the band.
Immaculate in their black and white uniforms, the women were members of the United Congregational Churches of Southern Africa (UCCSA).
Their banners in the church’s signature blue, represented the women’s ‘manyano’ (fellowships) of the 13 different circuits in the Kei region.
The regional president is Mrs Z. Snymani from Fort Beaufort and membership for the region is more than 1 500 women.
The Kei is one of 11 regions in the South African synod of the UCCSA.
There are five synods in all – one in each of five southern African countries.
The parade marked the opening of a four-day conference with the theme: “A God-fearing woman has no limitations”.
During the gathering, the sound of massed voices singing in perfect harmony billowed out of the Town Hall at frequent intervals. In addition to praise and worship, the proceedings included motivational addresses and discussions about organisational management and strategies.
The local church is under the leadership of Reverend M. Nxele, and the local women’s manyano took care of catering.
A bivouac kitchen was set up on one side of the Town Hall and king-sized cooking pots were kept sizzling in front of a large stack of firewood.
At midday on Sunday, Bedford’s CBD was seething with mini-buses and coaches preparing to transport the women back to their homes across the region.